1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an automatic reactor for automatically carrying out a reaction process in a laboratory or a sample treatment process, more particularly to an automatic infinitesimal liquid reactor which treats infinitesimal liquid samples and reagents with an automated pipetter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the biochemical field, many enzyme reaction processes are used to analyze biochemical samples such as protein and nucleic acid in a laboratory.
Such enzyme reaction processes are composed of many repetitions of treating an infinitesimal liquid quantity and thermally treating at a precise temperature. Conventionally, such enzyme reaction processes are carried out manually by laboratory staffs and constitute very tedious work.
In recent years, attempts have been made to carry out sample preparation processes by robots instead of human beings. Experimental instruments, reagents and a robotic arm capable of manipulating sample tubes and syringes are placed on a desk and the robotic arm is controlled so as to carry out the sample preparation processes by manipulating the experimental instruments and reagents. F. H. Zenie, et al., described in detail such a robotic approach to automated sample preparation in the periodical AMERICAN LABORATORY, June 1982, pages 96-104.
In the robotic approach of the prior art, the experimental instruments and reagents are disposed in a single plane, thus requiring a large space for the installation. Accordingly, once installed, the robot system occupies almost completely the space on a table top, leaving no space for other tasks and apparatus. Further, reagents such as enzymes which are unstable at room temperature are not allowed to remain in the work area, so that the available process and reagents are limited, and the system is unsuitable particularly for treatment of enzymes and like.